i had a couple of objectives for today’s hike. one was to see how easy it is to get from the uri master gardener trail that winds around the ri veteran’s cemetery to the trails on the queen’s river preserve. turns out, pretty easy. the other objective was to visit my dad’s grave. it was 10 years ago today that we lost him, and i wanted to tell him we still missed him.

trail head for the master gardener trail

the trail head for the master gardener trail was pretty simple to find. it’s across the entrance road from the administration building. this trail was built by members of the uri master gardener classes of 1993 and 1994. i graduated from that program in 1990, so i knew the folks who built this. they were very dedicated and they did a great job.

glimpse of the cemetery from the trail

the trail winds through the woods and pops out onto the cemetery road in 9 places to visit specific memorials, such as the navy seabees memorial and the korean war vets memorial.

queen’s river preserve trail head

after coming out of the woods and onto the cemetery roads, i followed them along as far west as they ran, then north. at the northwest corner, there was a small footpath that led from the cemetery property to school lands woods road, and almost immediately onto the queen’s river preserve. it was really just a hop-skip-jump from one to the other.

the queen’s river

the documented trails on this nature conservancy property are along a couple of old gravel roads. i followed the first of these down to the river and a small bridge with a forbidding bar and sign that labeled the other shore private property. the view of the river from the little bridge was lovely. on the way back, i noticed a footpath heading south, and feeling adventurous, i followed it. it was a great little path that meandered along the river’s edge to meet up with the other trail on the trail map which was labeled “howard’s trail.” howard’s trail took me back to the woods roads and so i was able to make a nice little loop on the preserve.

dad’s grave

i visited for a few minutes with my dad on the way back to the car. can’t believe it’s been 10 years…